DC apartment building says banners must come down after neighbors' political feud

WASHINGTON - A political rivalry between neighbors at a Southwest D.C. apartment building caught the attention of Washington Nationals fans over the weekend.

At Camden South Capitol apartments just across from Nationals Park, a woman put up a banner reading "Nope." on her patio with an arrow pointing up to her neighbor's Donald Trump banner.

“I became a lot more political after the election results came in,” said Aman Dhanda, who describes herself as a liberal Democrat.

She said she spent several months living underneath the Trump banner until it started to really get to her and she felt compelled to do something. Her response had people sharing photos on social media and those in her building talking.

“I’ve gotten messages from around the country, around the world,” she said.

But her banner also got the attention of building management. On Monday, a notice went out to tenants stating that it is a lease violation to hang anything off of their balconies – even banners celebrating the team that plays across the street. The deadline to remove banners is May 1. The notice said:

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FOX 5 asked apartment manager Shaun Lambert what prompted the notice.

"It served as a reminder to all residents that BBQ grills, banners, household furniture, pets left out alone and smoking is not permitted on balconies. Our community has a window cleaning scheduled for end of May through beginning of June and photography of our exterior and interiors during the month of June," Lambert said in an email.

But people who live in the building said this has never been an issue until few days ago when the two residents got into the political feud.

Meanwhile on Monday, the banner battle continued as the Trump supporter switched out his Trump banner for a “Hillary for President” banner. Dhanda caught it quickly and took down her "Nope" banner. Then the Trump banner returned Tuesday night.

“I felt like my message was sent,” Dhanda said. “It was a little fulfilling to see a Hillary banner up there for a while. I took a few pictures of that. So he switched it back out today and I think I will leave mine down for the time being.”

Some neighbors had a good laugh over the beef.

“I kind of cheered them on because it was just interesting,” said tenant Beth Withers. "It was humorous."

Other residents said they understood where management is coming from during this tense political climate.

“Certainly with how contentious things are in our country in the political area, I'm not surprised that the building wants to I think probably try to stay neutral in that,” said Tim Monahan.

The man who put up the Trump banner said he didn't want to speak on camera because of his job. He told FOX 5 that he has no bad feelings toward his neighbor. They have never met, but he said he would be more than happy to meet Dhanda.